Many ways…

Lemang is glutinous rice with santan (coconut milk) and salt cooked in bamboo tubes lined with banana leaves. These tubes are made to stand beside an open fire to cook the contents inside. Obviously, this is not all that easy to do as if it is overcooked, the lemang would be brownish and hard and would not be nice at all – it would have to be just right.

Once it is done, the bamboo is split open to reveal the long cylindrical rolls of lemang inside. This has been cut into lengths of around three inches for sale at RM2.00 each…

Yes, it is not all that cheap but then, glutinous rice isn’t all that cheap these days and as I have said earlier, the preparation and cooking of the lemang to perfection needs a lot of attention and can be rather tedious.

38 thoughts on “Many ways…”

This looks like the lontong rice we have here which is usually eaten with mixed vegetable (cabbage, carrot, long beans, turnips etc) and beancurd cooked in coconut milk.

Are they the same?

Nope, lontong is something like ketupat or nasi impit cut into cubes and served in vegetable masak lemak. I first had that in Singapore – The Lontong House, somewhere in one of the lanes along Orchard Road. Guess it’s no more there – that was 1973, so long ago. I think this is an Indonesian dish.

i love serunding , but not so lemang.. its suppose to taste “lemak”ish, but i just felt it’s tasteless. Anyway that’s just me 🙂

Good morning sir!

Good morning. Ya, that’s why I prefer panggang – it’s more lemak…but some people prefer lemang. To each his own, I guess. Lemang is more suitable to be eaten with curry, rendang and stuff….panggang with condensed milk or kaya.

I’m not really a fan of lemang. I would prefer “Pat lau”. Only in Sibu. It’s more softer, chewy and ‘lemak’ than lemang…. Ooh…. raya is around the corner. hehe.

What’s that? “Pat lau” means four days in Melanau. If it is kelupis – the long thin ones in the brown leaves tied with the brown grass string? Ooooo….that one, I like!!!! Can’t get it at the stalls – unless homemade. You make? Bagi sikit, come Raya…can? Wink! Wink! Wink! LOL!!! 😀

My family call it Patlau. I don’t know where does the name came from. I think it’s the same as Kelupis. Kelupis is covered in brown leaves (daun apong), while Patlau is covered in green leaves (banana leaves). I think you know it. Unfortunately I don’t know how to make it. huhu

I think I know – I’ve had the green ones before. They sell at the Bandong kuih stall sometimes and they call it kelupis too.

oh, nice!! i love that both ways, and perhaps also with kaya to have it the sweet way?? sorry, forgotten you are cutting down on sweet things, hehe.. hmmm, it has been so loooooong since i last had lemang..

I’m sweet enough mah – no need to take too much sweet stuff. 😀 Actually, pulut by itself is also bad if one is cutting down on one’s sweet intake. Moderation is the key!

Not surprised. I had difficulty getting nyonya kuihs in Penang…but I did manage to find one stall in a shopping mall once and I ended up throwing them away after one bite each as I was walking back to the hotel – they were worse than the miserable ones we have here. Haven’t been for a few years so I dunno if it is still the same or things are much better now.

No worries though!!! Ramadan is coming and you will be invited to those buka puasa buffets at the hotels and restaurants. You will surely be able to get all the lemang that you want then.

Arthur, This looks good and yummy! Never tried it before but can imagine the great taste! Wow! you need at least these key exotic ingredients like banana leaves, coconut milk, glutinous rice and hollow bamboo,… I definitely couldn’t come up with this food art!!

Me neither. It’s really not easy to make…and the heat from the open fire would be enough to kill me first.

i quite like lemang too! though i always feel guilty about gorging on so much starchy carbohydrates, heh. i assume lemang can be found all year round now at some shops, but i only really notice them during the ramadan season, when street stalls are set up to sell them 😀

Yup…and all the Ramadan buffets coming up. Do you get invited to these events? Lot sand lots and lots to eat and bet there’ll be lemang too.

Last time, I used to go to my malay’s teacher house during Hari Raya, and she will serve us with her homemade lemang. It was served with rendang ayam. Very yummy. Nowadays, i seldom buy because all the stalls is by the roadside. A thought of the dust by the roadside is enough to keep me away.

You’re the second one to complain…and what I saw over there, they never cover up the food plus there are soooo many cars on the road. I can imagine the dust, the fumes…and worse, the flies!

Lemang!! Yummy!! Raya is coming, we can feast it again. Yes, not all lemang taste good, only one particular stall that i will buy, very fragrant and very lemak. Elaine loved it too, after i told her where to buy.

I am second Merryn, don’t eat lemang with kaya or sugar, i only take it with beef rendang or serunding. yum yum!!

This one’s very good. Next time you come home, I’d buy for you…and have to buy serunding too then. Hehehehehe!!!!

That looks delicious and now you have me craving rice. How do they make the floss? Do they scrape the meat to get it to resemble floss?

I don’t really know but I think so. It seems that they boil the meat first and then shred/tear it into long fine thin strips and cook with all the spices and everything. Obviously it is a very tedious task when it has to be done manually.

At RM2.00 for that little bit, I would not be buying often either…but this stall…if it’s late morning, almost noon, they lelong at half price…but of course, chances are, there will be almost nothing left. Depends on one’s luck.

used to had to wait for Raya to eat these, now I m glad they are available at some places now… I just love Lemang with beef serunding… will eat a lot of this during Raya… 🙂

I’m ok with lemang – like it but have to go with rendang, curry…or condensed milk or kaya. Serunding’s rather dry to go with the lemang, I feel but this one that I bought was very nice so I quite enjoyed it.